I’ll admit, when I walked out of a meeting at 4:30 yesterday, I was floored to learn that Manny Ramirez had been traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Dodgers.
Floored not because I didn’t think the Red Sox would get rid of him, but because when I walked into the meeting at 3:45 all of my sources said the talks had fizzled out.
So when my boss, who was on the phone with her husband and son, who were in Boston listening to WEEI, dropped the bomb, I frantically started looking for confirmation and texting and emailing everyone I knew.
The homepage on Boston.com still proclaimed the fizzled deal, but Dirt Dogs had the headline - and only the headline - which redirected to Boston.com. In turn, Boston.com was inaccessible; I learned later that the site received 1.6 million page views during that time – double its normal traffic for a late Thursday afternoon.
Am I sad? Nope. Am I disappointed? Yes.
Manny Ramirez is unequivocally one of the most talented right-handed hitters in baseball. His batting average and clutch hitting will be missed. He was an integral reason that the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007. No doubt.
But enough is enough. Manny being Manny became Manny being Insufferable. And I’m not sad that the front office decided to end this toxic relationship. When you’re on a team, the sum of its parts cannot be greater than its whole. I could argue that other teams operate like that now and are often less than successful – maybe to the extent of not winning a world series in 8 years. But I’m just speculating (and talking trash)…
A lot has been said on this matter (a lot), with which much of I wholeheartedly agree. I’m excited to see Jason Bay play tonight, and I hope the Fenway Faithful give him a warm welcome. On paper, the Red Sox might look weaker than they were two days ago, but paper doesn’t play baseball; players do. And you have to show up – mentally and physically – to play.
Teams are a fascinating dynamic – made up of a number of individuals who are all working towards the same goal. Everyone has a different role and brings something unique to the table, without which the team would not be the same. What is the incentive to creating a team, family, organization, or any other collective group?
Peter Schworm and Maddie Hanna commented on Boston.com:
"Like the Red Sox themselves, the Ramírez watch brought the city together, a unifying force that connected the sports bars around Fenway Park to the cafes along Newbury Street and points in between. As the trade rumors flew fast and furious, fans braced for the fate of the iconic Boston athlete."
Some think that such passion for a sports team is a waste of time. Maybe. Working at GlobalGiving, I know that there are many more productive things to support and places to invest your energy. But I find comfort in the continuous demonstration – even if it is, in this case, only for the Red Sox – that individuals can come together - for one reason, one goal, even one moment – and create a team. Together, we can accomplish so much.
